Would You Ride An Airplane Fuelled By Plants?

The country’s flag carrier just made a major breakthrough in revolutionising long haul commercial flights.

Etihad Airways’ Boeing 787 successfully completed a flight from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam in the Netherlands using homegrown plants cultivated in seawater as source of fuel.

View this post on Instagram

" target="_blank">

Watch how we prepared for our biofuel flight to Amsterdam on a Boeing 787 during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. This is the world’s first flight powered by homegrown biofuels, developed from saltwater Salicornia plants in a sustainable facility at @masdarcityabudhabi.

A post shared by Etihad Airways (@etihadairways) on Jan 16, 2019 at 12:08am PST

The fuel came from oil in Salicornia plants grown on two-hectare farm in Masdar City, which is the world’s first desert ecosystem designed to produce food and fuel in saltwater.

This latest initiative is part of Etihad’s vision of utilising sustainable, clean and eco-friendly fuel for its flights.

Working alongside the airline company in turning this into a reality are Khalifa University, Boeing, ADNOC, Safran, GE and BAUER Resources.

View this post on Instagram

. تشرفنا بزيارة سمو الشيخ حامد بن زايد آل نهيان، رئيس ديوان ولي عهد أبوظبي ورئيس مجلس أمناء #جامعة_خليفة في المنصة حيث اطلع سموه على أحدث أعمال الابتكار والتكنولوجيا والمشاريع الهندسية المتخصصة في الطاقة المستدامة إضافة إلى فرص الاستمثار المتجددة التي توفرها الجامعة لطلبتها في برنامج إعداد قادة المستقبل للالتقاء مع نخبة من قادة الطاقة العالميين المشاركين خلال #القمة_العالمية_لطاقة_المستقبل ضمن فعاليات #أسبوع_أبوظبي_للاستدامة 2019. H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court visited #KhalifaUniversity's pavilion in #WFES during #ADSW 2019, where he praised on KU innovative engineering projects and technology-based. Also, the investive opportunities that the university offers for its students to meet leaders of sustainability and energy.

A post shared by Khalifa University (@khalifa_university) on Jan 16, 2019 at 8:08am PST

There are more studies being conducted by both government and private sector groups in the hope of discovering other potential biofuel sources for future use.